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If we won't buy them, Obama will force us?

As the first Toyota Priuses took to U.S. roads more than a decade ago and celebrities such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz touted their virtues, enthusiasts predicted that hybrid cars would quickly become mainstream.

But there was a problem: They cost too much, and consumers spurned them. Last year, the vehicles represented less than 3 percent of cars and light trucks sold in the United States.

Now the Obama administration is deciding how much to push U.S. drivers into fuel-efficient cars.

Over the next few months, regulators are scheduled to set the next round of U.S. fuel economy standards for manufacturers. Among the proposals under consideration is one that would lift average fuel economy under the law to as much as 62 mpg by 2025.

The preeminent issue in the debate is how much the price of cars — gas, hybrids, plug-ins or whatever inventors come up with— would rise if regulations dictate such standards.

On one side are automakers, which warn that the highest targets could add as much as $10,000 to the price of a new car, devastating a U.S. industry that just two years ago was bailed out by the government.

Sales could plummet by 25 percent, they say, and 220,000 auto manufacturing jobs could be lost.

I'd rather just buy horses and build a buggy. It's easier to breed and train an extra horse, the insurance is free, refueling can be done almost anywhere, and you don't need a mechanic to tell you if you need a new one. Besides, I LIKE horses. That Prius is just plain oogly.

Parrish, I most certainly DO care about the environment. I live sustainably. I live within my budget. I bust my behind to put back MORE than I take out of the environment. None of that changes the fact that I don't HAVE the money in my budget to buy one ~ and even if I did it would be useless for hauling home a round bale (or even one square bale) of hay. Don't paint people like that ...

The problem is that Obama doesn't have a clue what living on a budget means, let alone living within one. I'd also like to know if his admin is going to GIVE the blasted things away to welfare people ... and make those who are working pay for them.

I would vote up Farmlady's answer more than once if I could. I can see it now, along with your welfare check you get a nice new hybrid in your driveway while the rest of us pay for it. I can only hope we get rid of Obama before he screws up the auto industry like he has the health care industry.

You just can't teach stubborn people to care for the environment.
parrishsky

Answer by parrishsky 28 minutes a

And you just can't teach ignorant people that those little death traps are not of any value to people who need to haul things (such as round bales as farmlady stated), live in climates that get very cold and very snowy in the winter, need to travel long distances for various needs, etc....

And you just can't teach ignorant people that those little death traps are not of any value to people who need to haul things (such as round bales as farmlady stated), live in climates that get very cold and very snowy in the winter, need to travel long distances for various needs, etc....

Thank you ladies. I drive my truck (a shortbed that gets 36 mpg) a grand total of 76 miles (give or take) a month. That's IT.I make two trips to the feed store, and swing a block over to the grocery store if I need anything ... and stop at the pharmacy once a month on the way home. I have a solar hwh as well as an on-demand one, we use solar for our well, and I have rain barrels/drip hoses for the garden. I HAVE a garden. I HAVE an orchard. I can and dehydrate most of our food (including the meat animals I raise!). I live in a 209 sq.ft. home! I have a sawdust potty!!! I really think it's just a bit much to sit back and put up with someone typing about my stubborness over NOT buying an ugly car that I neither need nor want.

Grrrrr. I'd be willing to bet her footprint would eclipse three of mine ... at least!

The problem is that Obama doesn't have a clue what living on a budget means, let alone living within one. I'd also like to know if his admin is going to GIVE the blasted things away to welfare people ... and make those who are working pay for them.